NYC Winter Jazzfest January 11-12, 2013

[hamlake]

I'll be making a trip to NYC for the Winter Jazzfest. The tentative line-up has been posted on the website (http://www.winterjazzfest.com). Which would be the must see shows for you? Thanks.

Adam Deitch
AFRO HARPING' A Tribute to Dorothy Ashby f. Brandee Younger
Alexis Cuadrado 'A Lorca Soundscape' w/ Claudia Acuña & Miguel Zenon
Amir Elsafar Quintet
Ari Hoenig Group
Bobby Previte Bari Trio
Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra
Catherine Russell
Celebrate The Great Women of Blues & Jazz w/ Toshi Reagon and Allison Miller
Charnett Moffett, Marc Cary, Will Calhoun
CHURCH f. Mark de Clive-Lowe
Claudia Acuña
Colin Stetson
Corey King and TAFFY
Dan Tepfer & Lee Konitz
Dave Douglas
Debo Band
Dezron Douglas' Jazz Workshop
DJ Raydar Ellis
DJ Rich Medina
Don Byron Quartet
Donny McCaslin
Erik Deutsch
Felix Pastorious
George Burton Group
Gregory Porter
Hazmat Modine
Ibrahim Maalouf
Jacob Garchik
Jaimeo Brown’s Transcendence
James Carter Organ Trio
Jason Lindner Breeding Ground
Jason Stein quartet
John Raymond Project
Julian Lage, Nels Cline
Kneebody
Krakauer
Krystle Warren and the Faculty
Leo Genovese Trio
Marcus Strickland Twi-Life
Merger w/ Andrew D’Angelo, Kirk Knuffke, Ben Street, Nasheet Waits
Michael Attias
Michael Formanek
Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto by PACJE
Nasheet Waits EQUALITY w/ Craig Taborn, Mark Helias, Logan Richardson
Omer Avital & His Band of The East
Otis Brown III Quartet
Rafiq Bhatia
Revive Big Band led by Igmar Thomas
Rez Abassi Trio
Roy Nathanson Sotto Voce
Rudresh Mahanthappa
Sunny Kim's Painter's Eye
The Cookers
The Fringe
Tony Malaby Tuba Trio
+ more to be announced soon...

[kooljazzman]

James Carter Organ Trio and Marcus Strickland's Band but there is no schedule posted yet as to who is playing on what days/nights

[djangoblackbird]

Hey Hamlake,

So I copied your posting and I've bolded the ones I'm definitely going to see and why. This is not to say other bands aren't worth seeing, however. This is mostly based on what I already know or have come to expect from certain artists.

Originally Posted by hamlake

I'll be making a trip to NYC for the Winter Jazzfest. The tentative line-up has been posted on the website (http://www.winterjazzfest.com). Which would be the must see shows for you? Thanks.

Adam Deitch
AFRO HARPING' A Tribute to Dorothy Ashby f. Brandee Younger
Alexis Cuadrado 'A Lorca Soundscape' w/ Claudia Acuña & Miguel Zenon
Amir Elsafar Quintet (Amazing blends of Middle Eastern music and jazz. Amir's a truly unique trumpet player and I THINK he now lives in Egypt, so he might not be around as much as he used to)
Ari Hoenig Group (Can't go wrong with Ari's bands. Great drummer)
Bobby Previte Bari Trio
Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra (Some old-school jug band jazz)
Catherine Russell
Celebrate The Great Women of Blues & Jazz w/ Toshi Reagon and Allison Miller
Charnett Moffett, Marc Cary, Will Calhoun
CHURCH f. Mark de Clive-Lowe
Claudia Acuña
Colin Stetson (I guarantee you've never heard anything like Colin Stetson. Plays multiple saxes, the main one being a bass sax, and he mikes everything from the bell to the pads to his throat, making these aggressively beautiful and otherworldly sounds that sound like he's overdubbing when he actually isn't)
Corey King and TAFFY
Dan Tepfer & Lee Konitz (Konitz is still the man after these years and his duets with Tepfer, who sounds so totally different, are always enjoyable)
Dave Douglas (I'm guessing this is with his latest quintet + vocalist, which has some beautiful music and great players, but whatever he does will be great)
Debo Band
Dezron Douglas' Jazz Workshop (Really swinging bassist and I only know him a sideman. Curious to see what his music sounds like)
DJ Raydar Ellis
DJ Rich Medina
Don Byron Quartet (Great modern clarinetist, could be playing any number of styles of music here)
Donny McCaslin (Probably with his latest quartet, which made a record of awesome electronica-inspired jazz. But it's McCaslin's take on that format, so it's not going to sound contrived or cliche)
Erik Deutsch
Felix Pastorious
George Burton Group
Gregory Porter (One of THE best younger jazz vocalists. Soulful and rich)
Hazmat Modine
Ibrahim Maalouf
Jacob Garchik (Playing with his brass band, most likely doing the entirety of his record The Heavens, which is one of the best releases of 2012. Avant-garde gospel shout music.)
Jaimeo Brown’s Transcendence
James Carter Organ Trio
Jason Lindner Breeding Ground (I've never heard this group exactly, but I know it's essentially Lindner's mind-blowing Now Vs. Now plus strings and horns, so this can't not be great)
Jason Stein quartet
John Raymond Project
Julian Lage, Nels Cline (Two very different guitarists, both excellent in their field. Extremely curious to hear what it's like)
Kneebody (The first and foremost name in groove and rock inspired jazz. Puts on these very complex but danceably groovy live shows)
Krakauer
Krystle Warren and the Faculty
Leo Genovese Trio
Marcus Strickland Twi-Life
Merger w/ Andrew D’Angelo, Kirk Knuffke, Ben Street, Nasheet Waits (Classic Brooklyn-style downtown collective. Great musicians all around)
Michael Attias (Beautiful alto player, part of Paul Motian's band for a while)
Michael Formanek (Great downtown bass player, been in the game for a long time)
Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto by PACJE
Nasheet Waits EQUALITY w/ Craig Taborn, Mark Helias, Logan Richardson (Don't know what this sounds like, but that's a great line-up of people and I haven't heard any of them play together. Craig Taborn is ALWAYS worth seeing)
Omer Avital & His Band of The East
Otis Brown III Quartet
Rafiq Bhatia
Revive Big Band led by Igmar Thomas
Rez Abassi Trio (bad-ass groove and Indo-Pak music)
Roy Nathanson Sotto Voce
Rudresh Mahanthappa (Similar to Rez Abassi)
Sunny Kim's Painter's Eye
The Cookers
The Fringe (If this is what I think it is, it's George Garzone's legendary trio. Garzone can't be missed; one of the best tenor players alive)
Tony Malaby Tuba Trio (Malaby's a ferocious tenor player and it's probably Marcus Rojas on tuba, who's a beast)
+ more to be announced soon...

[bubber]

Great guiding, really makes me want to catch all these groups too.

[hamlake]

Originally Posted by kooljazzman

James Carter Organ Trio and Marcus Strickland's Band but there is no schedule posted yet as to who is playing on what days/nights

Originally Posted by djangoblackbird

Hey Hamlake,

So I copied your posting and I've bolded the ones I'm definitely going to see and why. This is not to say other bands aren't worth seeing, however. This is mostly based on what I already know or have come to expect from certain artists.

Thank you for the terrific recommendations. The schedule for both nights is now posted: http://www.winterjazzfest.com/2013ny...3schedule.html.

Based on recommendations and additional research, below is my tentative schedule. Unfortunately, I will have to miss some desired shows due to overlap, and I've left out some shows as I've seen them before in DC, Baltimore, or prior NYC visits. I've indented and asterixed shows that are back-ups or that I'll try to squeeze in between other sets if possible. Any feedback on my choices or tips about navigating from set to set would be much appreciated. I'm not sure which I should try to see between Ibrahim Malouf's and Marcus Strickland's sets--any thoughts on Meg Okura's Ensemble versus Bryan & the Aardvarks on Friday? Thanks!

Fr 1/11
18:00 Ibrahim Malouf at Le Poisson Rouge

*18:45 Meg Okura's Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble at Zinc Bar
*19:00 Bryan & The Aardvarks at Subculture

19:45 Marcus Strickland Twi-Life at Sullivan Hall

*20:00 Dan Tepfer & Lee Konitz at Zinc Bar
*20:30 Dave Douglas at Le Poisson Rouge

20:45 Jacob Garchik The Heavens at Bowery Electric

*21:45 Don Byron at Le Poisson Rouge

22:00 Julian Lage & Nels Cline at Bitter End
22:45 The Fringe at Subculture
00:00 Nasheet Waits Equality with Vijay Iyer, Mark Helias, Logan Richardson at Subculture
01:00 AfroHORN at Zinc Bar
02:30 Spontaneous Construction at Subculture

Sa 1/12
19:00 Michael Formanek at Subculture
19:45 Ari Hoenig Group at Sullivan Hall

*20:00 Donny McCaslin at Zinc Bar

20:30 The Cookers at Le Poisson Rouge

*20:45 Colin Stetson at Bitter End

21:30 Tony Malaby Tuba Trio at Subculture

*21:45 Rudresh Mahanthappa's Gamak at Le Poisson Rouge
*22:30 Omer Avital & His Band of The East at Zinc Bar

23:00 James Carter Organ Trio at Le Poisson Rouge
00:15 Gregory Porter at Le Poisson Rouge

*01:00 Amir Elsafar Quintet at Zinc Bar

01:15 Merger with Andrew D’Angelo, Kirk Knuffke, Ben Street, Nasheet Waits at Subculture
02:00 John Raymond Project at Sullivan Hall

*02:30 Spontaneous Construction at Subculture

[djangoblackbird]

Originally Posted by hamlake

any thoughts on Meg Okura's Ensemble versus Bryan & the Aardvarks on Friday? Thanks!

I don't really know about either of these two. I think I've seen Meg Okura play before and if I'm remembering correctly, she's a really good violinist (but I also might be confusing her with Sara Caswell, another jazz violinist). Just go with your gut

Fr 1/11
18:00 Ibrahim Malouf at Le Poisson Rouge

*18:45 Meg Okura's Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble at Zinc Bar
*19:00 Bryan & The Aardvarks at Subculture

19:45 Marcus Strickland Twi-Life at Sullivan Hall

*20:00 Dan Tepfer & Lee Konitz at Zinc Bar
*20:30 Dave Douglas at Le Poisson Rouge

As somewhat morbid as this is going to sound, if you haven't seen Lee Konitz, do so over Dave Douglas, because he's up there in years and his health hasn't been stellar. Also, it'll give you more ample time to get to Garchik, who you're going to want to see right from the start, because he usually plays The Heavens record back-to-back and the opening track ("Creation's Creation") is stunningly beautiful.

20:45 Jacob Garchik The Heavens at Bowery Electric

*21:45 Don Byron at Le Poisson Rouge

22:00 Julian Lage & Nels Cline at Bitter End
22:45 The Fringe at Subculture
00:00 Nasheet Waits Equality with Vijay Iyer, Mark Helias, Logan Richardson at Subculture
01:00 AfroHORN at Zinc Bar
02:30 Spontaneous Construction at Subculture

Looks pretty good. Don Byron's probably worth the little jaunt.

Sa 1/12

19:00 Michael Formanek at Subculture
19:45 Ari Hoenig Group at Sullivan Hall

*20:00 Donny McCaslin at Zinc Bar

20:30 The Cookers at Le Poisson Rouge

*20:45 Colin Stetson at Bitter End

If you're dead set on The Cookers, go for it (I dig their sound from what little I've heard), but Colin Stetson, if you're into intensity and swirling post-rock/post-jazz awesomeness, is going to be an amazing thing to see live. Also, The Bitter End is quite small (If they could have avoided this, they certainly should have - I was sure they were going to put him in LPR) and it's going to be PACKED for him, so to get a decent spot to see him, you might want to see him earlier rather than later.

21:30 Tony Malaby Tuba Trio at Subculture

*21:45 Rudresh Mahanthappa's Gamak at Le Poisson Rouge
*22:30 Omer Avital & His Band of The East at Zinc Bar

23:00 James Carter Organ Trio at Le Poisson Rouge
00:15 Gregory Porter at Le Poisson Rouge

*01:00 Amir Elsafar Quintet at Zinc Bar

01:15 Merger with Andrew D’Angelo, Kirk Knuffke, Ben Street, Nasheet Waits at Subculture

El-Saffar lives in Cairo, so you might want to catch a lot of his (very innovative) group rather then less. Andrew D'Angelo plays out quite a bit (but do get out to see him, because that's a great band).

[bubber]

Yeah, go see Stetson. He just played Oslo, and the Oslo audience, not easily impressed, are raving about him.

[hamlake]

Originally Posted by djangoblackbird

As somewhat morbid as this is going to sound, if you haven't seen Lee Konitz, do so over Dave Douglas, because he's up there in years and his health hasn't been stellar. Also, it'll give you more ample time to get to Garchik, who you're going to want to see right from the start, because he usually plays The Heavens record back-to-back and the opening track ("Creation's Creation") is stunningly beautiful.

I'll probably miss both for the Marcus Strickland set, but fortunately I've seen Lee Konitz twice (including once with Dan Tepfer) and Dave Douglas twice (Brass Ectasy and his "Be Still" group).

Originally Posted by djangoblackbird

If you're dead set on The Cookers, go for it (I dig their sound from what little I've heard), but Colin Stetson, if you're into intensity and swirling post-rock/post-jazz awesomeness, is going to be an amazing thing to see live. Also, The Bitter End is quite small (If they could have avoided this, they certainly should have - I was sure they were going to put him in LPR) and it's going to be PACKED for him, so to get a decent spot to see him, you might want to see him earlier rather than later.

Originally Posted by bubber

Yeah, go see Stetson. He just played Oslo, and the Oslo audience, not easily impressed, are raving about him.

Okay, you guys have convinced me. I'll probably switch out The Cookers and see Colin Stetson instead. The Cookers will be playing near DC in February, so I'll catch them then. I saw Colin Stetson open for Arcade Fire 4 years ago when they put on a free show in Cleveland in support of Obama for the Democratic nomination, but I imagine his music and playing have evolved since then.

Originally Posted by djangoblackbird

El-Saffar lives in Cairo, so you might want to catch a lot of his (very innovative) group rather then less. Andrew D'Angelo plays out quite a bit (but do get out to see him, because that's a great band).

Can't argue with you on this--you've convinced me on this one, too.

Thank you! This is the kind of feedback I'm looking for.

[Music997]

The Jazz Winterfest is going to be loaded with talent this year.

It's always a great event to attend.

[tpt1]

Wow. Jazz is definitely not dead.

http://www.winterjazzfest.com/

[tpt1]

What a night! I didn't make it Friday but I was in for the long haul last night. The turn out for this event was phenomenal... every joint was packed and the Village was jumping.

For a $35 ticket this is what I experienced, from 6 pm until 2 am...

Pedrito Martinez @ The Bitter End

Claudia Acuña @ The Bitter End

The Cookers (Victor Lewis, Cecil McBee, George Cables, Eddie Henderson, Billy Harper, David Weiss, Craig Handy) @ Poisson Rouge

Rudresh Mahanthappa @ Poisson Rouge

Kneebody @ Culture Project Theater

Gregory Porter @ Poisson Rouge

Bugge Wesseltoft with Erik Truffaz @ Poisson Rouge

[djangoblackbird]

Originally Posted by tpt1

What a night! I didn't make it Friday but I was in for the long haul last night. The turn out for this event was phenomenal... every joint was packed and the Village was jumping.

For a $35 ticket this is what I experienced, from 6 pm until 2 am...

Pedrito Martinez @ The Bitter End

Claudia Acuña @ The Bitter End

The Cookers (Victor Lewis, Cecil McBee, George Cables, Eddie Henderson, Billy Harper, David Weiss, Craig Handy) @ Poisson Rouge

Rudresh Mahanthappa @ Poisson Rouge

Kneebody @ Culture Project Theater

Gregory Porter @ Poisson Rouge

Bugge Wesseltoft with Erik Truffaz @ Poisson Rouge

Chris, I saw the tail-end of Claudia and all of Rudresh/Kneebody. Good shit all around.

Also, I did a review of Day 1 for Feast of Music, if you're curious:
http://www.feastofmusic.com/feast_of...013-day-1.html

[tpt1]

Nice review, Dan. I look forward to reading about Saturday night, too.

Man, Rudresh was quite the rush! His set blew me away. Dan Weiss is a beast of a drummer.

[djangoblackbird]

http://www.feastofmusic.com/feast_of...013-day-2.html
Here's the second day. All the reviews except The Cookers and Somi are mine.

[tpt1]

Originally Posted by djangoblackbird

http://www.feastofmusic.com/feast_of...013-day-2.html
Here's the second day. All the reviews except The Cookers and Somi are mine.

Thanks, Dan. You are spot on about Rudresh's Gamak.